Method and system for applying gearing effects to mutlti-channel mixed input

ABSTRACT

A method and system for interactive interfacing with a computer gaming system is provided. The method includes providing an input device, where the input device is configured to convey mutlti-channel mixed input data that is to be interpreted by the computer gaming system. The method includes identifying an action to be performed by the computer gaming system, and the action is mapped to the mutlti-channel mixed input data provided by the input device. Then, a gearing is applied between the action to be performed by the computer gaming system and the mutlti-channel mixed input data received from the input device. The gearing scales an adjustment to impact the action to be performed by the computer gaming system. The gearing can be set dynamically by the game, by the user, or can be preset by software or user configured in accordance with a gearing algorithm.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This application is a continuation in part (CIP) of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/207,677, entitled, “MAN-MACHINE INTERFACE USINGA DEFORMABLE DEVICE”, filed on Jul. 27, 2002; U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 10/650,409, entitled, “AUDIO INPUT SYSTEM”, filed on Aug. 27,2003; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/663,236, entitled “METHOD ANDAPPARATUS FOR ADJUSTING A VIEW OF A SCENE BEING DISPLAYED ACCORDING TOTRACKED HEAD MOTION”, filed on Sep. 15, 2003; U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 10/759,782, entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR LIGHT INPUTDEVICE”, filed on Jan. 16, 2004; U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/820,469, entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS TO DETECT AND REMOVE AUDIODISTURBANCES”, filed on Apr. 7, 2004; and U.S. patent application Ser.No. 11/301,673, entitled “METHOD FOR USING RELATIVE HEAD AND HANDPOSITIONS TO ENABLE A POINTING INTERFACE VIA CAMERA TRACKING”, filed onDec. 12, 2005; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/381,721, to Xiao DongMao, entitled ULTRA SMALL MICROPHONE ARRAY, (Attorney DocketSCEA05062US00), filed on May 4, 2006, application Ser. No. 11/381,728,to Xiao Dong Mao, entitled ECHO AND NOISE CANCELLATION, (Attorney DocketSCEA05064US00), filed on May 4, 2006, U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/381,725, to Xiao Dong Mao, entitled “METHODS AND APPARATUS FORTARGETED SOUND DETECTION”, (Attorney Docket SCEA05072US00), filed on May4, 2006, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/381,727, to Xiao Dong Mao,entitled “NOISE REMOVAL FOR ELECTRONIC DEVICE WITH FAR FIELD MICROPHONEON CONSOLE”, (Attorney Docket SCEA05073US00), filed on May 4, 2006, U.S.patent application Ser. No. 11/381,724, to Xiao Dong Mao, entitled“METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR TARGETED SOUND DETECTION ANDCHARACTERIZATION”, (Attorney Docket SCEA05079US00), filed on May 4,2006, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/381,721, to Xiao Dong Mao,entitled “SELECTIVE SOUND SOURCE LISTENING IN CONJUNCTION WITH COMPUTERINTERACTIVE PROCESSING”, (Attorney Docket SCEA04005JUMBOUS), filed onMay 4, 2006, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

This application claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationNo. 60/718,145, entitled “AUDIO, VIDEO, SIMULATION, AND USER INTERFACEPARADIGMS”, filed Sep. 15, 2005, which is hereby incorporated byreference.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is also related to co-pending application Ser. No.______, to Xiao Dong Mao, entitled “METHODS AND APPARATUSES FORADJUSTING A LISTENING AREA FOR CAPTURING SOUNDS”, (Attorney DocketSCEA-00300) filed on May 4, 2006, the entire disclosures of which areincorporated herein by reference. This application is also related toco-pending application Ser. No. ______, to Xiao Dong Mao, entitled“METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR CAPTURING AN AUDIO SIGNAL BASED ON VISUALIMAGE”, (Attorney Docket SCEA-00400), filed on May 4, 2006, the entiredisclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. Thisapplication is also related to co-pending application Ser. No. ______,to Xiao Dong Mao, entitled “METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR CAPTURING ANAUDIO SIGNAL BASED ON A LOCATION OF THE SIGNAL”, (Attorney DocketSCEA-00500), filed on May 4, 2006, the entire disclosures of which areincorporated herein by reference. This application is also related toco-pending application Ser. No. ______, to Richard Marks et al.,entitled “SELECTIVE SOUND SOURCE LISTENING IN CONJUNCTION WITH COMPUTERINTERACTIVE PROCESSING”, (Attorney Docket SCEA04005US01-SONYP045), filedon May 4, 2006, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated hereinby reference. This application is also related to co-pending applicationSer. No. ______, to Richard Marks et al., entitled “Computer Image andAudio Processing of Intensity and Input Devices for Interfacing With AComputer Program”, (Attorney Docket SONYP052), filed on May 4, 2006, theentire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.

This application is also related to co-pending application Ser. No.______, entitled “MULTI-INPUT GAME CONTROL MIXER”, (Attorney DocketSCEA06MXR1), filed on the same day as this application, the entiredisclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.

This application is also related to co-pending application Ser. No.______, entitled “SYSTEM FOR TRACKING USER MANIPULATIONS WITHIN ANENVIRONMENT”, (Attorney Docket SCEAMXR2), filed on the same day as thisapplication, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein byreference.

This application is also related to co-pending application Ser. No.______, entitled “SYSTEM, METHOD, AND APPARATUS FOR THREE-DIMENSIONALINPUT CONTROL”, (Attorney Docket SCEA061NRT1), filed on the same day asthis application, the entire disclosures of which are incorporatedherein by reference.

This application is also related to co-pending application Ser. No.______, entitled “INERTIALLY TRACKABLE HAND-HELD CONTROLLER”, (AttorneyDocket SCEA061NRT2), filed on the same day as this application, theentire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.

This application is also related to co-pending application Ser. No.______, entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR APPLYING GEARING EFFECTS TOVISUAL TRACKING”, (Attorney Docket SONYP058A), filed on the same day asthis application, the entire disclosures of which are incorporatedherein by reference.

This application is also related to co-pending application Ser. No.______, entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR APPLYING GEARING EFFECTS TOINERTIAL TRACKING”, (Attorney Docket SONYP058B), filed on the same dayas this application, the entire disclosures of which are incorporatedherein by reference.

This application is also related to co-pending application Ser. No.______, entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR APPLYING GEARING EFFECTS TOACOUSTICAL TRACKING”, (Attorney Docket SONYP058C), filed on the same dayas this application, the entire disclosures of which are incorporatedherein by reference.

This application is also related to co-pending application Ser. No.______, entitled “SCHEME FOR DETECTING AND TRACKING USER MANIPULATION OFA GAME CONTROLLER BODY”, (Attorney Docket SCEA05082US00), filed on thesame day as this application, the entire disclosures of which areincorporated herein by reference.

This application is also related to co-pending application Ser. No.______, entitled “SCHEME FOR TRANSLATING MOVEMENTS OF A HAND-HELDCONTROLLER INTO INPUTS FOR A SYSTEM”, (Attorney Docket 86324), filed onthe same day as this application, the entire disclosures of which areincorporated herein by reference.

This application is also related to co-pending application Ser. No.______, entitled “DETECTABLE AND TRACKABLE HAND-HELD CONTROLLER”,(Attorney Docket 86325), filed on the same day as this application, theentire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.

This application is also related to co-pending application Ser. No.______, entitled “METHOD FOR MAPPING MOVEMENTS OF A HAND-HELD CONTROLLERTO GAME COMMANDS”, (Attorney Docket 86326), filed on the same day asthis application, the entire disclosures of which are incorporatedherein by reference.

This application is also related to co-pending application Ser. No.______, entitled “CONTROLLER WITH INFRARED PORT ((DESIGN PATENT))”,(Attorney Docket SCEA06007US00), filed on the same day as thisapplication, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein byreference.

This application is also related to co-pending application Ser. No.______, entitled “CONTROLLER WITH TRACKING SENSORS ((DESIGN PATENT))”,(Attorney Docket SCEA06008US00), filed on the same day as thisapplication, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein byreference.

This application is also related to co-pending application numberentitled “DYNAMIC TARGET INTERFACE”, (Attorney Docket SCEA06009US00),filed on the same day as this application, the entire disclosures ofwhich are incorporated herein by reference.

This application is also related to co-pending application Ser. No.______, entitled “TRACKED CONTROLLER DEVICE ((DESIGN))”, (AttorneyDocket SCEA06010US00), filed on the same day as this application, theentire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

The video game industry has seen many changes over the years. Ascomputing power has expanded, developers of video games have likewisecreated game software that takes advantage of these increases incomputing power. To this end, video game developers have been codinggames that incorporate sophisticated operations and mathematics toproduce a very realistic game experience.

Example gaming platforms include the Sony Playstation or SonyPlaystation2 (PS2), each of which is sold in the form of a game console.As is well known, the game console is designed to connect to a monitor(usually a television) and enable user interaction through handheldcontrollers. The game console is designed with specialized processinghardware, including a CPU, a graphics synthesizer for processingintensive graphics operations, a vector unit for performing geometrytransformations, and other glue hardware, firmware, and software. Thegame console is further designed with an optical disc tray for receivinggame compact discs for local play through the game console. Onlinegaming is also possible, wherein a user can interactively play againstor with other users over the Internet.

As game complexity continues to intrigue players, gaming software andhardware manufacturers have continued to innovate to enable additionalinteractivity. In reality, however, the way in which users interact witha game has not changed dramatically over the years. Commonly, usersstill play computer games using hand held controllers or interact withprograms using mouse pointing devices.

In view of the foregoing, there is a need for methods and systems thatenable more advanced user interactivity with game play.

SUMMARY

Broadly speaking, the present invention fills these needs by providingmethods, systems and apparatus that enable dynamic user interactivitywith a computing system. In one embodiment, the computing system will beexecuting a program and the interactivity will be with the program. Theprogram may be, for example, a video game that defines interactiveobjects or features. The interactivity includes providing users with anability to adjust a gearing component that will adjust a degree by whichprocessing is performed.

In one embodiment, gearing can be applied to relative movement betweenmovement of an input device verses an amount of movement processed by anobject or feature of a computer program.

In another embodiment, gearing can be applied to a feature of a computerprogram, and detection from an input device can be based from processingof an inertial analyzer. The inertial analyzer will track an inputdevice for inertial activity, and the inertial analyzer can then conveythe information to a program. The program will then take the output fromthe inertial analyzer so that a gearing amount can be applied to theoutput. The gearing amount will then dictate a degree or ratio by whicha program will compute an operation. The operation can take on anynumber of forms, and one example of the operation can be to generate anoise, a variable nose, a movement by an object, or a variable. If theoutput is a variable, the variable (e.g., a multiplier or the like) maybe used to complete the execution of a process, such that the processwill take into account the amount of gearing. The amount of gearing canbe preset, set dynamically by the user or adjusted on demand.

In one embodiment, the tracking can be by way of an acoustic analyzer.The acoustic analyzer is configured to receive acoustic signals from aninput device, and the acoustic analyzer can convey a gearing amount tobe applied to the command or interaction being performed. The acousticanalyzer can be in the form of a computer program segment(s) orspecifically defined on a circuit that is designed to process acousticsignal information. The acoustic signal information can thereforeinclude gearing data that may be dynamically set by a program, seton-demand by the user through the input device (e.g., by selecting abutton on a controller, a voice command, or the like).

In one embodiment, the tracking of the input device may by through animage analyzer. The image analyzer, as will be discussed below, caninclude a camera that captures images of a space where a user and aninput device are located. In this example, the image analyzer isdetermining position of the controller to cause some respective actionto a feature of a processing program. The program may be a game, and thefeature may be an object that is being controlled by the input device.The image analyzer is further configured to mix the position data withan input gearing value. The gearing value can be provided by the userdynamically during execution or can be set by a program depending onactivity within an execution session. The gearing input will set arelative impact on some processing by the computer program based on aninput gesture or action by the user. In one embodiment, the gearing willtranslate a command or action from a user or user input device to afeature of a program. The feature of the program need not be an objectthat is visible, but can also include the adjustment of a variable usedto calculate some parameter, estimation or translation of either sound,vibration or image movement. Gearing will therefore provide anadditional sense of control to the interactivity provided to and with aprogram and features of the program.

In still another embodiment, mixer analyzer is provided. The Mixeranalyzer is designed to generate a hybrid effect to a feature of thegame. For instance, the Mixer analyzer can take input from a combinationof the image analyzer, the acoustic analyzer, the inertial analyzer, andthe like. The Mixer analyzer can therefore, in one embodiment, receiveseveral gearing variables, which can then be mixed and synthesized togenerate a hybrid result, command or interaction with a feature of aprogram. Again, the feature of the program should be broadly understoodto include visual and non-visual objects, variables used in theprocessing of an operation, adjustments to audible reactions, and thelike.

In one specific example, the amount by which movement by a user'scontroller will translate to movement or action on a feature of a gamewill be at least partially related to the set or determined gearing. Thegearing can be dynamically set, preset for the game or adjusted duringgame play by the user, and the response is mapped to the video gameobject or feature to provide for another level of user interactivity andan enhanced experience.

It should be appreciated that the present invention can be implementedin numerous ways, including as a process, an apparatus, a system, adevice, or a method. Several inventive embodiments of the presentinvention are described below.

In one embodiment, a method and system for interactive interfacing witha computer gaming system is provided. The method includes providing aninput device, where the input device is configured to conveymutlti-channel mixed input data that is to be interpreted by thecomputer gaming system. The method includes identifying an action to beperformed by the computer gaming system, and the action is mapped to themutlti-channel mixed input data provided by the input device. Then, agearing is applied between the action to be performed by the computergaming system and the mutlti-channel mixed input data received from theinput device. The gearing scales an adjustment to impact the action tobe performed by the computer gaming system. The gearing can be setdynamically by the game, by the user, or can be preset by software oruser configured in accordance with a gearing algorithm.

In another embodiment, a method for interactive interfacing with acomputer gaming system is disclosed. The computer gaming system includesa video capture device for capturing image data. The method includesdisplaying an input device to the video capture device, such that theinput device conveying positioning of the input device and communicationdata that is to be interpreted by the computer gaming system based onanalysis of the captured image data. The method then defines movement ofan object of a computer game that is to be executed by the computergaming system, and the movement of the object may be mapped to movementsin position of the input device as detected in the captured image data.The method then establishes a gearing between the movement of the objectof the computer game verses the movements in position of the inputdevice. The gearing establishes a user adjustable ratio betweenmovements in position of the input device and movements of the object.

In yet another embodiment, computer readable media including programinstructions for interactive interfacing with a computer gaming systemis provided. The computer gaming system includes a video capture devicefor capturing image data. The computer readable media includes programinstructions for detecting the display of an input device to the videocapture device, the input device conveying positioning of the inputdevice and communication data that is to be interpreted by the computergaming system based on analysis of the captured image data. The computerreadable media further includes program instruction for definingmovement of an object of a computer game that is to be executed by thecomputer gaming system, where the movement of the object is mapped tomovements in position of the input device as detected in the capturedimage data. The computer readable media also includes programinstructions for establishing a gearing between the movement of theobject of the computer game verses the movements in position of theinput device, where the gearing may be configured to establish a useradjustable ratio between movements in position of the input device andmovements of the object. The user adjustable ratio capable of beingdynamically changed during game play, before a game play session orduring certain action events during a game.

In still another embodiment, a system for enabling dynamic userinteractivity between user actions and actions to be performed by anobject of a computer program is provided. The system includes acomputing system, a video capture device coupled to the computingsystem, a display, and the display receives input from the computingsystem. The system further includes an input device for interfacing withthe computer program that is to be executed by the computing system. Theinput device having a gearing control for establishing a ratio betweenmovement of the input device as mapped to movement of an object beingcontrolled. The object being defined by the computer program andexecuted by the computing system. The movement of the input device beingidentified by the video capture device and the movement of the object asillustrated on the display having a set gearing value as set by thegearing control of the input device. In this embodiment, the gearingassociated with the input device may be applied to a generalapplication, and does not necessarily have to be for a game.

In another embodiment, an apparatus for enabling dynamic userinteractivity between user actions and actions to be performed by anobject of a computer program is provided. The apparatus includes aninput device for interfacing with the computer program that is to beexecuted by a computing system. The input device has a gearing controlfor establishing a ratio between movement of the input device as mappedto movement of an object being controlled. The object being defined bythe computer program and executed by the computing system, and themovement of the input device is identified by a video capture device andthe movement of the object is illustrated on a display having a setgearing value as set by the gearing control of the input device.

The advantages of the present invention will become apparent from thefollowing detailed description, taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, illustrating by way of example the principles ofthe invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be readily understood by the followingdetailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, andlike reference numerals designate like structural elements.

FIG. 1 illustrates an interactive game setup having an image capturedevice.

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary computer interaction using a video processingsystem.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary user input system forinteraction with an object on a graphical display.

FIG. 4 is a simplified block diagram of a computer processing systemconfigured to implement the embodiments of the invention describedherein.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a configuration of the components of avideo game console adapted for use with a manipulated object serving asan alternative input device.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the functional blocks used to trackand discriminate a pixel group corresponding to the user input device asit is being manipulated by the user.

FIG. 7 shows a schematic block diagram for an exemplary image processingsystem.

FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary application for image processing systemof FIG. 7.

FIGS. 9 and 10 show plan and rear elevation views, respectively, of anexemplary controller that interacts with an image capture device.

FIG. 11 shows an exemplary application for the controller of FIGS. 9 and10.

FIG. 12 shows an exemplary software controlled gearing amount for theapplication shown in FIG. 11.

FIG. 13 shows an exemplary controller having a steering wheel.

FIG. 14 shows an exemplary application for the controller of FIG. 13.

FIG. 15 shows an exemplary graph depicting exemplary changes in gearingamount over time.

FIG. 16 shows another exemplary application of an image processingsystem responding to user interaction.

FIG. 17 shows a graph depicting an exemplary gearing amount at differenttimes along the length of a baseball bat swing for the application shownin FIG. 16.

FIG. 18 shows another exemplary application of an image processingsystem responding to user interaction.

FIG. 19 shows a graph illustrating an exemplary change in gearing amountupon “releasing” a football for the application shown in FIG. 18.

FIG. 20 shows a flowchart describing an exemplary procedure forreceiving user input to computer program.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth inorder to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. Itwill be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the presentinvention may be practiced without some or all of these specificdetails. In other instances, well known process steps have not beendescribed in detail in order not to obscure the present invention.

The technology described herein can be used to provide actively gearedinputs for an interaction with a computer program. Gearing, in thegeneral and broadest sense, can be defined an input that can havevarying degrees in magnitude and/or time. The degree of gearing can thenbe communicated to a computing system. The degree of gearing may beapplied to a process executed by the computing system. By analogy, aprocess can be imaged as a bucket of fluid having an input and anoutput. The bucket of fluid is a process that is executing on a system,and the gearing therefore controls an aspect of the processing performedby the computing system. In one example, the gearing can control therate at which the fluid is emptied from the fluid bucket relative to aninput amount, which might be thought of as drops of fluid going into thebucket. Thus, the fill rate may be dynamic, the drain rate may bedynamic, and the drain rate might be impacted by the gearing. Thegearing can thus be adjusted or timed so as to tune a changing valuethat may be streaming to a program, such as a game program. The gearingmay also impact a counter, such as a moving data counter that thencontrols an action by a processor or eventually a game element, object,player, character, etc.

Taking this analogy to a more tangible computing example, the rate atwhich the fluid is emptied might be the rate at which control is passedto or executed by a feature of a computer program, in response to someinput plus gearing. The feature of the computer program may be anobject, a process, a variable, or predefined/custom algorithm,character, game player, mouse (2D or 3D), etc. The result of theprocessing, which may have been altered by the gearing, can be conveyedto an observer in any number of ways. One way may be visually on adisplay screen, audibly via sound, vibration acoustics via feel, acombination thereof, etc., or simply by the modified response ofprocessing for an interactive element of a game or program.

The input can be obtained by tracking performed via: (1) a imageanalysis, (2) an inertial analysis, (3) acoustic analysis, or hybridMixed analysis of (1), (2) or (3). Various examples are providedregarding image analysis and applied gearing, but it should beunderstood that the tracking is not limited to video, but canaccomplished by numerous ways, and in particular, by inertial analysis,acoustic analysis, mixtures of these and other suitable analyzers.

In various embodiments, a computer or gaming system having a videocamera (e.g., image analysis) can process image data and identifyvarious actions taking place in a zone of focus or given volume that maybe in front of the video camera. Such actions typically include movingor rotating the object in three dimensional space or actuating any of avariety of controls such as buttons, dials, joysticks, etc. In additionto these techniques, the present technology further provides theadditional functionality of adjusting a scaling factor, referred toherein as gearing, to adjust the sensitivity of the input with respectto one or more corresponding actions on a display screen or a feature ofa program. For instance, the actions on the display screen may be of anobject that may be the focus of a video game. The object may also be afeature of a program, such as a variable, a multiplier, or a computationthat will then be rendered as sound, vibration, images on a displayscreen or a combination of the these and other representations of thegeared output.

In another embodiment, gearing can be applied to a feature of a computerprogram, and detection of an input device can be based on processing byan inertial analyzer. The inertial analyzer will track an input devicefor inertial activity, and the inertial analyzer can then convey theinformation to a program. The program will then take the output from theinertial analyzer so that a gearing amount can be applied to the output.The gearing amount will then dictate a degree or ratio by which aprogram will compute an operation. The operation can take on any numberof forms, and one example of the operation can be to generate a noise, avariable nose, vibration, a movement by an object, or computation by aprogram that then outputs a visible and/or audible result. If the outputis a variable, the variable may be used to complete the execution of aprocess, such that the process will take into account the amount ofgearing. The amount of gearing can be preset, set dynamically by theuser or adjusted on demand.

Various types of inertial sensor devices may be used to provideinformation on 6-degrees of freedom (e.g., X, Y and Z translation (e.g.,acceleration) and rotation about X, Y and Z axes). Examples of suitableinertial sensors for providing information on 6-degrees of freedominclude accelerometers, one or more single axis accelerometers,mechanical gyroscopes, ring laser gyroscopes or combinations of two ormore of these.

Signals from the sensor(s) may be analyzed to determine the motionand/or orientation of the controller during play of a video gameaccording to an inventive method. Such a method may be implemented as aseries of processor executable program code instructions stored in aprocessor readable medium and executed on a digital processor. Forexample, a video game system may include one or more processors. Eachprocessor may be any suitable digital processor unit, e.g., amicroprocessor of a type commonly used in video game consoles or customdesigned multi-processor cores. In one embodiment, the processor mayimplement an inertial analyzer through execution of processor readableinstructions. A portion of the instructions may be stored in a memory.Alternatively, the inertial analyzer may be implemented in hardware,e.g., as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or digitalsignal processor (DSP). Such analyzer hardware may be located on thecontroller or on the console or may be remotely located elsewhere. Inhardware implementations, the analyzer may be programmable in responseto external signals e.g., from the processor or some other remotelylocated source, e.g., connected by USB cable, Ethernet, over a network,the Internet, short range wireless connection, broadband wireless,Bluetooth, or a local network.

The inertial analyzer may include or implement instructions that analyzethe signals generated by the inertial sensors and utilize informationregarding position and/or orientation of a controller. The inertialsensor signals may be analyzed to determine information regarding theposition and/or orientation of the controller. The position and ororientation information may be utilized during play of a video game withthe system.

In one embodiment, a game controller may include one or more inertialsensors, which may provide position and/or orientation information to aprocessor via an inertial signal. Orientation information may includeangular information such as a tilt, roll or yaw of the controller. Asnoted above, and by way of example, the inertial sensors may include anynumber and/or combination of accelerometers, gyroscopes or tilt sensors.In a one embodiment, the inertial sensors include tilt sensors adaptedto sense orientation of the joystick controller with respect to tilt androll axes, a first accelerometer adapted to sense acceleration along ayaw axis and a second accelerometer adapted to sense angularacceleration with respect to the yaw axis. An accelerometer may beimplemented, e.g., as a MEMS device including a mass mounted by one ormore springs with sensors for sensing displacement of the mass relativeto one or more directions. Signals from the sensors that are dependenton the displacement of the mass may be used to determine an accelerationof the joystick controller. Such techniques may be implemented byinstructions from the game program or general program, which may bestored in memory and executed by a processor.

By way of example an accelerometer suitable as an inertial sensor may bea simple mass elastically coupled at three or four points to a frame,e.g., by springs. Pitch and roll axes lie in a plane that intersects theframe, which is mounted to the joystick controller. As the frame (andthe joystick controller) rotates about pitch and roll axes the mass willdisplace under the influence of gravity and the springs will elongate orcompress in a way that depends on the angle of pitch and/or roll. Thedisplacement and of the mass can be sensed and converted to a signalthat is dependent on the amount of pitch and/or roll. Angularacceleration about the yaw axis or linear acceleration along the yawaxis may also produce characteristic patterns of compression and/orelongation of the springs or motion of the mass that can be sensed andconverted to signals that are dependent on the amount of angular orlinear acceleration. Such an accelerometer device can measure tilt, rollangular acceleration about the yaw axis and linear acceleration alongthe yaw axis by tracking movement of the mass or compression andexpansion forces of the springs. There are a number of different ways totrack the position of the mass and/or or the forces exerted on it,including resistive strain gauge material, photonic sensors, magneticsensors, hall-effect devices, piezoelectric devices, capacitive sensors,and the like.

In addition, light sources may provide telemetry signals to theprocessor, e.g., in pulse code, amplitude modulation or frequencymodulation format. Such telemetry signals may indicate which buttons arebeing pressed and/or how hard such buttons are being pressed. Telemetrysignals may be encoded into the optical signal, e.g., by pulse coding,pulse width modulation, frequency modulation or light intensity(amplitude) modulation. The processor may decode the telemetry signalfrom the optical signal and execute a game command in response to thedecoded telemetry signal. Telemetry signals may be decoded from analysisof images of the joystick controller obtained by an image capture unit.Alternatively, an apparatus may include a separate optical sensordedicated to receiving telemetry signals from the lights sources.

A processor may use inertial signals from the inertial sensor inconjunction with optical signals from light sources detected by an imagecapture unit and/or sound source location and characterizationinformation from acoustic signals detected by a microphone array todeduce information on the location and/or orientation of a controllerand/or its user. For example, “acoustic radar” sound source location andcharacterization may be used in conjunction with a microphone array totrack a moving voice while motion of the joystick controller isindependently tracked (through inertial sensors and or light sources).In acoustic radar, a pre-calibrated listening zone is selected atruntime and sounds originating from sources outside the pre-calibratedlistening zone are filtered out. The pre-calibrated listening zones mayinclude a listening zone that corresponds to a volume of focus or fieldof view of the image capture unit.

In one embodiment, the tracking can be by way of an acoustic analyzer.The acoustic analyzer is configured to receive acoustic signals from aninput device, and the acoustic analyzer can convey a gearing amount tobe applied to the command or interaction being performed. The acousticanalyzer can be in the form of a computer program segment(s) orspecifically defined on a circuit that is designed to process acousticsignal information. The acoustic signal information can thereforeinclude gearing data that may be dynamically set by a program, seton-demand by the user through the input device (e.g., by selecting abutton on a controller, a voice command, or the like). An exampleacoustic analyzer is described in U.S. patent application, filed May 4,2006 entitled “SELECTIVE SOUND SOURCE LISTENING IN CONJUNCTION WITHCOMPUTER INTERACTIVE PROCESSING”, by inventors Xiadong Mao, Richard L.Marks and Gary, M. Zalewski, and identified by Attorney Docket No.SCEA04005JUMBOUS, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporatedherein by reference.

The Analyzers can be configured with a mapping chain. Mapping chains canbe swapped out by the game during game-play as can settings to theAnalyzer and to the Mixer.

In one embodiment, the tracking of the input device may by through animage analyzer. The image analyzer, as will be discussed further below,can include a camera that captures images of a space where a user and aninput device are located. In this example, the image analyzer isdetermining position of the controller to cause some respective actionto a feature of a processing program. The program may be a game, and thefeature may be an object that is being controlled by the input device.The image analyzer is further configured to mix the position data withan input gearing value. The gearing value can be provided by the userdynamically during execution or can be set by a program depending onactivity within an execution session. The gearing input will set arelative impact on some processing by the computer program based on aninput gesture or action by the user. In one embodiment, the gearing willtranslate a command or action from a user or user input device to afeature of a program. The feature of the program need not be an objectthat is visible, but can also include the adjustment of a variable usedto calculate some parameter, estimation or translation of either sound,vibration or image movement. Gearing will therefore provide anadditional sense of control to the interactivity provided to and with aprogram and features of the program.

In still another embodiment, a mixer analyzer is provided. The Mixeranalyzer is designed to generate a hybrid effect to a feature of thegame. For instance, the Mixer analyzer can take input from a combinationof the image analyzer, the acoustic analyzer, the inertial analyzer, andthe like. The Mixer analyzer can therefore, in one embodiment, receiveseveral gearing variables, which can then be mixed and synthesized togenerate a hybrid result, command or interaction with a feature of aprogram. Again, the feature of the program should be broadly understoodto include visual and non-visual objects, variables used in theprocessing of an operation, adjustments to audible reactions, and thelike.

FIG. 1 illustrates an interactive game setup 100, in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention. The interactive game setup 100includes a computer 102, also referred to herein as “console,” that iscoupled to a display screen 110. An image capture device 105 may beplaced on top of the display screen 110 and is coupled to the computer102. Computer 102 is, in one embodiment, a gaming system console whichallows users to play video games and interface with the video gamesthrough controllers 108. The computer 102 may also be connected to theinternet, to allow for interactive on-line gaming. The image capturedevice 105 is shown placed on top of the display screen 110, but itshould be understood that the image capture device 105 can be placed inany other proximate location that will allow it to capture images thatare located about in front of the display screen 110. Techniques forcapturing these movements and interactions can vary, but exemplarytechniques are described in United Kingdom Applications GB 0304024.3(PCT/GB2004/000693) and GB 0304022.7 (PCT/GB2004/000703), each filed onFeb. 21, 2003, and each of which is hereby incorporated by reference.

In one embodiment, image capture device 105 can be as simple as astandard web cam or can include more advanced technology. Image capturedevice 105 may be capable of capturing images, digitizing the images,and communicating the image data back to the computer 102. In someembodiments, the image capture device will have logic integrated thereinfor performing the digitizing and another embodiment the image capturedevice 105 will simply transmit an analog video signal to the computer102 for digitizing. In either case, the image capture device 105 iscapable of capturing either color or black and white images of anyobject located in front of the image capture device 105.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary computer interaction using an imagecapture and processing system. Computer 102 receives image data fromimage capture device 105 which generates images from view 202. View 202includes a user 210 manipulating an object 215 in the shape of a toyairplane. Object 215 includes a plurality of LEDs 212 which are viewableby image capture device 105. LEDs 212 provide location and orientationinformation of object 215. In addition, object 215 may include one ormore actuating elements, such as a button, trigger, dial, etc., forgenerating computer input. Voice commands may also be used. In oneembodiment, object 215 includes a circuit 220 containing logic formodulating LEDs 212 for transmitting data to computer 102 via imagecapture device 105. The data may include encoded commands generated inresponse to manipulations of the actuating means. As object 215 is movedand rotated in three dimensional space viewable by image capture device105, LED positions as represented in image data are translated asdescribed hereinafter with reference to FIGS. 3-6 to coordinates withinthe three-dimensional space, the coordinates describing both positioninformation in terms of x, y, and z coordinates, as well as orientationinformation, in terms of α, β, and γ values. The coordinates areforwarded to a computer application which may be an airplane game inwhich the toy airplane is represented on display 110 as a real oranimated airplane 215′ which may be performing various stunts inresponse to manipulation of toy airplane 215. Alternatively, instead ofthe toy airplane 215, the user 210 may be handling a controller 108(shown in FIG. 1) and movement of the controller 108 can be tracked andcommands captured to cause the movement of an object on the displayscreen.

In one embodiment, the user 210 may also select to change or modify thedegree of interactivity with the animated airplane 215′. The degree ofinteractivity may be modified by allowing the user 215 to adjust a“gearing” component that will adjust an amount by which movement by theuser's controller 108 (or toy airplane 215) will be mapped to movementby the animated airplane 215′. Depending on the gearing, which can bedynamically set, preset for the game or adjusted during game play by theuser 210, the response mapped to the animated airplane 215′ (e.g., videogame object) will change to provide for another level of userinteractivity and an enhanced experience. Further details regarding thegearing will be provided below with reference to FIGS. 7-20.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary user input system forinteraction with an object on a graphical display that can be used toimplement embodiments of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, theuser input system is comprised of a video capture device 300, an inputimage processor 302, an output image processor 304, and a video displaydevice 306. Video capture device 300 may be any device capable ofcapturing sequences of video images, and, in one embodiment, is adigital video camera (such as a “web-cam”), or similar image capturingdevice.

The video capture device 300 may be configured to provide depth image.In the this description, the terms “depth camera” and “three-dimensionalcamera” refer to any camera that is capable of obtaining distance ordepth information as well as two-dimensional pixel information. Forexample, a depth camera can utilize controlled infrared lighting toobtain distance information. Another exemplary depth camera can be astereo camera pair, which triangulates distance information using twostandard cameras. Similarly, the term “depth sensing device” refers toany type of device that is capable of obtaining distance information aswell as two-dimensional pixel information.

Camera 300 can therefore provide the ability to capture and map thethird-dimension in addition to normal two-dimensional video imagery.Similar to normal cameras, a depth camera captures two-dimensional datafor a plurality of pixels that comprise the video image. These valuesare color values for the pixels, generally red, green, and blue (RGB)values for each pixel. In this manner, objects captured by the cameraappear as two-dimension objects on a monitor. However, unlike aconventional camera, a depth camera also captures the z-components ofthe scene, which represent the depth values for the scene. Since thedepth values are typically assigned to the z-axis, the depth values areoften referred to as z-values.

In operation, a z-value is captured for each pixel of the scene. Eachz-value represents a distance from the camera to a particular object inthe scene corresponding to the related pixel. In addition, a maximumdetection range is defined beyond which depth values will not bedetected. This maximum range plane can be utilized by the embodiments ofthe present invention to provide user defined object tracking. Thus,using a depth camera, each object can be tracked in three dimensions. Asa result, a computer system of the embodiments of the present inventioncan utilize the z-values, along with the two-dimensional pixel data, tocreate an enhanced three-dimensional interactive environment for theuser. For more information on depth analysis, reference may be made toU.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/448,614, entitled System and Methodfor Providing a Real-time three dimensional interactive environment,having a filing date of May 29, 2003, which is incorporated herein byreference.

Although a depth camera may be used in accordance with one embodiment,it should not be construed as being necessary to identify a location ofposition and coordinates of an object in three dimensional space. Forexample, in the scenario depicted in FIG. 2, the distance between object215 and camera 105 can be inferred by measuring the distance of leftmost and right most LEDs 212. The closer together LEDs 212 show up on animage generated by image capture device 105, the farther away object 215will be from camera 105. Thus, a reasonably accurate inference of z-axiscoordinates can be made from two dimensional images generated by atypical digital camera.

Returning to FIG. 3, input image processor 302 translates the capturedvideo images (which may be depth images) of the control object intosignals that are delivered to an output image processor. In oneembodiment, input image processor 302 is programmed to isolate thecontrol object from the background in the captured video image throughthe depth information and generate an output signal responsive to theposition and/or movement of the control object. The output imageprocessor 304 is programmed to effect translational and/or rotationalmovement of an object on the video display device 306 in response tosignals received from the input image processor 302.

These and additional aspects of the present invention may be implementedby one or more processors which execute software instructions. Accordingto one embodiment of the present invention, a single processor executesboth input image processing and output image processing. However, asshown in the figures and for ease of description, the processingoperations are shown as being divided between an input image processor302 and an output image processor 304. It should be noted that theinvention is in no way to be interpreted as limited to any specialprocessor configuration, such as more than one processor. The multipleprocessing blocks shown in FIG. 3 are shown only for convenience ofdescription.

FIG. 4 is a simplified block diagram of a computer processing systemconfigured to implement the embodiments of the invention describedherein. The processing system may represent a computer-basedentertainment system embodiment that includes central processing unit(“CPU”) 424 coupled to main memory 420 and graphical processing unit(“GPU”) 426. CPU 424 is also coupled to Input/Output Processor (“IOP”)Bus 428. In one embodiment, GPU 426 includes an internal buffer for fastprocessing of pixel based graphical data. Additionally, GPU 426 caninclude an output processing portion or functionality to convert theimage data processed into standard television signals, for example NTSCor PAL, for transmission to display device 427 connected external to theentertainment system or elements thereof. Alternatively, data outputsignals can be provided to a display device other than a televisionmonitor, such as a computer monitor, LCD (Liquid Crystal Display)device, or other type of display device.

IOP bus 428 couples CPU 424 to various input/output devices and otherbusses or device. IOP bus 428 is connected to input/output processormemory 430, controller 432, memory card 434, Universal Serial Bus (USB)port 436, IEEE1394 (also known as a Firewire interface) port 438, andbus 450. Bus 450 couples several other system components to CPU 424,including operating system (“OS”) ROM 440, flash memory 442, soundprocessing unit (“SPU”) 444, optical disc controlling 4, and hard diskdrive (“HDD”) 448. In one aspect of this embodiment, the video capturedevice can be directly connected to IOP bus 428 for transmissiontherethrough to CPU 424; where, data from the video capture device canbe used to change or update the values used to generate the graphicsimages in GPU 426. Moreover, embodiments of the present invention canuse a variety of image processing configurations and techniques, such asthose described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/365,120 filedFeb. 11, 2003, and entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR REAL TIME MOTIONCAPTURE, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. Thecomputer processing system may run on a CELL™ processor.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a configuration of the components of avideo game console adapted for use with a manipulated object serving asan alternative input device in accordance with one embodiment of theinvention. Exemplary game console 510 is equipped by a multiprocessorunit (MPU) 512 for control of overall console 510, main memory 514 whichis used for various program operations and for storage of data, vectorcalculation unit 516 for performing floating point vector calculationsnecessary for geometry processing, image processor 520 for generatingdata based on controls from MPU 512, and for outputting video signals tomonitor 110 (for example a CRT), a graphics interface (GIF) 522 forcarrying out mediation and the like over a transmission bus between MPU512 or vector calculation unit 516 and image processor 520, input/outputport 524 for facilitating reception and transmission of a data to andfrom peripheral devices, internal OSD functional ROM (OSDROM) 526constituted by, for example, a flash memory, for performing control of akernel or the like, and real time clock 528 having calendar and timerfunctions.

Main memory 514, vector calculation unit 516, GIF 522, OSDROM 526, realtime clock (RTC) 528 and input/output port 524 are connected to MPU 512over data bus 530. Also connected to BUS 530 is image processing unit538 which is a processor for expanding compressed moving images andtexture images, thereby developing the image data. For example, theimage processing unit 538 can serve functions for decoding anddevelopment of bit streams according to the MPEG2 or MPEG4 standardformats, macroblock decoding, performing inverse discrete cosinetransformations, color space conversion, vector quantization and thelike.

A sound system is constituted by sound processing unit SPU 571 forgenerating musical or other sound effects on the basis of instructionsfrom MPU 512, sound buffer 573 into which waveform data may be recordedby SPU 571, and speaker 575 for outputting the musical or other soundeffects generated by SPU 571. It should be understood that speaker 575may be incorporated as part of monitor 110 or may be provided as aseparate audio line-out connection attached to external speaker 575.

Communications interface 540 is also provided, connected to BUS 530,which is an interface having functions of input/output of digital data,and for input of digital contents according to the present invention.For example, through communications interface 540, user input data maybe transmitted to, and status data received from, a server terminal on anetwork in order to accommodate on-line video gaming applications. Inputdevice 532 (also known as a controller) for input of data (e.g. keyinput data or coordinate data) with respect to the console 510 opticaldisk device 536 for reproduction of the contents of optical disk 569,for example a CD-ROM or the like on which various programs and data(i.e. data concerning objects, texture data and the like), are connectedto input/output port 524.

The present invention further includes digital video camera 105 which isconnected to input/output port 524. Input/output port 524 may beembodied by one or more input interfaces, including serial and USBinterfaces, wherein digital video camera 190 may advantageously make useof the USB input or any other conventional interface appropriate for usewith camera 105.

The above-mentioned image processor 520 includes a rendering engine 570,interface 572, image memory 574 and a display control device 576 (e.g. aprogrammable CRT controller, or the like). The rendering engine 570executes operations for rendering of predetermined image data in theimage memory, through memory interface 572, and in correspondence withrendering commands which are supplied from MPU 512. The rendering engine570 has the capability of rendering, in real time, image data of 320×240pixels or 640×480 pixels, conforming to, for example, NTSC or PALstandards, and more specifically, at a rate greater than ten to severaltens of times per interval of from 1/60 to 1/30 of a second.

BUS 578 is connected between memory interface 572 and the renderingengine 570, and a second BUS 580 is connected between memory interface572 and the image memory 574. First BUS 578 and second BUS 580,respectively, have a bit width of, for example 128 bits, and therendering engine 570 is capable of executing high speed renderingprocessing with respect to the image memory. Image memory 574 employs aunified memory structure in which, for example, a texture renderingregion and a display rendering region, can be set in a uniform area.

Display controller 576 is structured so as to write the texture datawhich has been retrieved from optical disk 569 through optical diskdevice 536, or texture data which has been created on main memory 514,to the texture rendering region of image memory 574, via memoryinterface 572. Image data which has been rendered in the displayrendering region of image memory 174 is read out via memory interface572, outputting the same to monitor 110 whereby it is displayed on ascreen thereof.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the functional blocks used to trackand discriminate a pixel group corresponding to the user input device asit is being manipulated by the user in accordance with one embodiment ofthe invention. It should be understood that the functions depicted bythe blocks are implemented by software which is executed by the MPU 512in game console 510 of FIG. 5. Moreover, not all of the functionsindicted by the blocks in FIG. 6 are used for each embodiment.

Initially, the pixel data input from the camera is supplied to gameconsole 510 through input/output port interface 524, enabling thefollowing processes to be performed thereon. First, as each pixel of theimage is sampled, for example, on a raster basis, a color segmentationprocessing step S201 is performed, whereby the color of each pixel isdetermined and the image is divided into various two-dimensionalsegments of different colors. Next, for certain embodiments, a colortransition localization step S203 is performed, whereby regions wheresegments of different colors adjoin are more specifically determined,thereby defining the locations of the image in which distinct colortransitions occur. Then, a step for geometry processing S205 isperformed which, depending on the embodiment, comprises either an edgedetection process or performing calculations for area statistics, tothereby define in algebraic or geometric terms the lines, curves and/orpolygons corresponding to the edges of the object of interest.

The three-dimensional position and orientation of the object arecalculated in step S207, according to algorithms which are to bedescribed in association with the subsequent descriptions of preferredembodiments of the present invention. The data of three-dimensionalposition and orientation also undergoes a processing step S209 forKalman filtering to improve performance. Such processing is performed toestimate where the object is going to be at a point in time, and toreject spurious measurements that could not be possible, and thereforeare considered to lie outside the true data set. Another reason forKalman filtering is that the camera 105 may produce images at 30 Hz,whereas an example display runs at 60 Hz, so Kalman filtering may fillthe gaps in the data used for controlling action in the game program.Smoothing of discrete data via Kalman filtering is well known in thefield of computer vision and hence will not be elaborated on further.

FIG. 7 shows a schematic block diagram for an exemplary image processingsystem 700 for mapping movements of an object 705 a volume of space 702viewed by an image capture device 105. In this example, as object 705 ismoved a distance x₁ in three dimensional space 702, image processingsystem 700 interprets captured video images of object 705, identifiesthe motion of object 705, and generates a substantially correspondingaction on display screen 110.

Specifically, image capture device 105 includes a digital image sensorfor generating image data representing an image formed light impactingthe sensor after passing through a lens as is generally known in theart. It is also possible that image capture device 105 comprises ananalog video camera generating an analog signal representing the imageformed by light. In the latter case, the analog signal is converted to adigital representation of the image prior to processing by recognizer710. Image data representing successive two dimensional images of thethree dimensional space 702 is passed to recognizer 710. Recognizer 710may, in one embodiment, perform various processing steps as describedabove with reference to FIG. 6 for identifying object 705. The positionof object 705 is passed to mapper 712. For example, absolute coordinatesof object 705 in three dimensional space 702 may be calculated andtransmitted to mapper 712. Coordinates along the x and y axes may bedeterminable from the position of object as represented in each image.The coordinate of object 705 along the z-axis may be inferred from thesize of the object. That is, the closer object 705 is to image capturedevice 105, the larger it will appear in the image. Thus, a measurementsuch as the diameter of the object as it appears in the image can beused to calculate distance from image capture device 105, and thus, thez-axis coordinate.

In addition to position information, recognizer 710 may identifycommands received from object 705. Commands can be interpreted fromtransmissions/deformation, sound and light generation etc., of object705, for example, as described in related U.S. patent application Ser.No. 10/207,677, filed Jul. 27, 2002, entitled “MAN-MACHINE INTERFACEUSING A DEFORMABLE DEVICE”; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/650,409,Filed Aug. 27, 2003, entitled “AUDIO INPUT SYSTEM”; and U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/759,782, filed Jan. 16, 2004 entitled “METHODAND APPARATUS FOR LIGHT INPUT DEVICE”, the above listed patentapplications being incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.Commands received from object 705 is interpreted by recognizer and datacorresponding to the received commands may be communicated toapplication 714. Application 714 may be a game application or othercomputer application that requested or is otherwise receptive to userinput from image capture device 105. In one embodiment, mapper 712 mayinput absolute coordinates from recognizer 710 and maps thesecoordinates to output coordinates that are scaled in accordance with agearing amount. In another embodiment, mapper 712 receives successivecoordinate information from recognizer 710 and converts the changes incoordinate information to vector movements of object 705. For example,if object 705 moves a distance x₁ from time t₁ to time t₂, then a vectorx₁,0,0 may be generated and passed to application 714. Time t₁ to timet₂ may be the interval of time between successive frames of the videogenerated by image capture device 105. Mapper 712 may scale the vectoraccording to a scaling algorithm, e.g., by multiplying the vector by agearing amount, G. In a different embodiment, each coordinate ismultiplied by a corresponding gearing factor, e.g., G_(x), G_(y), andG_(z). Thus, a corresponding motion of virtual object 705′ as shown indisplay 110, may be a distance x₂, which is different from x₁.

Application 714 may vary the gearing amount in accordance with commands713 received from recognizer 710, or in accordance with the normaloperation of the software, which may send mapper 712 gearing datacausing the gearing amount to change. Gearing data may be sent to mapper712 in response to a user command, various events, or modes of operationof application 714. Thus, the gearing amount may by varied in real timein response to user commands or as controlled by software. Mapper 712may therefore transmit an output vector of the motion of object 705 toapplication 714, the output varying in relation to change in position ofobject 705 in space 702, and the gearing amount. Application 714, whichin one embodiment is a video game, translates the output vector into acorresponding action which may then be displayed on display 110.

FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary application for image processing system700 of FIG. 7. Computer system 102 includes an image capture device 105which views scene 810. Scene 810 includes a user 802 holding an object804 which is recognized by recognizer 710 (FIG. 7). The applicationprogram, which in this example is a checkers game, recognizes a commandissuing from object 804 to pick up or drop checkers 808 on checkerboard801. As user moves object 805 before image capture device 105, computer102 processes images to identify motion of object 804 and translatesthat motion into motion of virtual object 805′ on display 110. Thedistance virtual object 805′ moves in relation to real object 805depends on gearing amount 806. In this example, gearing amount isrepresented as “3” on display 110. In one embodiment, the gearing amountis user selectable. The larger the gearing amount, the smaller themovements of real object 805 is required to effectuate a particulardistance move of checker 805′ on the display 110.

FIGS. 9 and 10 show an exemplary controller 900 that interacts with animage capture device 105 (FIG. 1). Controller 900 includes an interface902 containing a plurality of interface devices including variousbuttons and joysticks. The controllers discussed herein can be eitherwired or wireless. Technologies, such as WiFi, Bluetooth™, IR, sound,and lights may work to interface with a computer, such as a gameconsole. In one embodiment, controller 900 has an LED array 905. The LEDarray may be configured in various layouts, including a 2×2 stack whereeach LEDs may be positioned at a vertex of an imaginary rectangular orsquare-shaped binding box. By tracking the position and deformation ofthe binding box as it is projected onto the image plane produced by animage capture device, the transformation and deformations may beanalyzed in a video analyzer to decipher position and orientationinformation of the controller.

LED array 905 may generate infrared or visible light. Image capturedevice 105 (FIG. 1) can identify LED array 905 as described above withreference to various other inventive embodiments. Each controller can bedesignated as Player 1 through, for example, Player 4, using switch 910,which allows a user selection of player number 1-4, or any number ofplayers. Each player number selection corresponds to a unique pattern ormodulation of LEDs being illuminated by LED array 905. For example, forPlayer 1, 1st, 3rd, and 5th LEDs are illuminated. Such playerinformation may be encoded and transmitted in a repeated fashion overtime across multiple video frames. It may be desirable to engage in aninterleave scheme so the controller or device LEDS can switch between atracking mode and a transmission mode. In the tracking mode, all LEDsmay be turned on during a first portion of a cycle. In the transmissionmode, information may be modulated by the LEDs during a second portionof a cycle. Over time, the LEDS transmit tracking and communicationsinformation to a video analyzer or suitable device capable of receivingthe signal. In the transmission mode, the LEDs may encode informationrepresentative of the player I.D. The period and duty cycle may bechosen to accommodate speed of tracking, lighting conditions, number ofcontrollers, etc. By interleaving communications and trackinginformation, a video capture device may be supplied with adequateinformation to compute tracking parameters for each controller and todiscriminate between controllers. Such discrimination may be used in avideo analyzer to isolate each physical controller when monitoring andtracking the position and orientation and other metrics of thecontroller movement.

In the transmission mode, other information, including commands or stateinformation may be transmitted by the controller or device LEDs andaccording to known encoding and modulation schemes. On the receiverside, a video analyzer coupled to the video capture device may sync withand track the state of the LEDS and decode the information andcontroller movements. It is known that higher bandwidth may be achievedby modulating data across frames in the transmission mode cycle.

User interaction with interface 902 may cause one or more of LEDs in LEDarray 905 to modulate and/or change color. For example, as a user movesa joystick LEDs may change brightness or transmit information. Thechanges in intensity or color can be monitored by the computer systemand provided to a gaming program as an intensity value. Furthermore,each button may be mapped to a change in color or intensity of one ormore of the LEDs in LED array 905.

As controller 900 is moved about in three-dimensional space and rotatedin one of a roll, yaw, or pitch direction, image capture device 105 inconjunction with computer system 102 may be capable of identifying thesechanges and generating a two dimensional vector, for describing movementon the image plane, or a three dimensional vector, for describingmovement in three dimensional space. The vector can be provided as aseries of coordinates describing relative movement and/or an absoluteposition with respect to the image capture device 105. As would beevident to those skilled in the art, movement on a plane perpendicularto the line of sight of image capture device 105 (the image plane) canbe identified by an absolute position within the image capture zone,while movement of controller closer to image capture device 105 can beidentified by the LED array appearing to spread out.

The rectangular configuration of LEDs 905 allow movement of controller900 on three axes and rotation about each axis to be detected. Althoughonly four LEDs are shown, it should be recognized that this is forexemplary purposes only, and any number of LEDs in any configurationwould be possible. As controller 900 is pitched forward or backward, thetop and bottom LEDs will get closer to each other while the left andright LEDs remain the same distance apart. Likewise, as the controlleryaws left or right, the left and right LEDs will appear to approach eachother while the top and bottom LEDs remain the same distance apart.Rolling motion of the controller can be detected by identifying theorientation of the LEDs on the image plane. As the controller movescloser to image capture device 105 along the line of sight thereof, allthe LEDs will appear to be closer to each other. Finally, thecontroller's movement along the image plane can be tracked byidentifying the location of the LEDs on the image plane, therebyidentifying movement along respective x and y axes.

Controller 900 may also include a speaker 915 for generating audible orultrasonic sound. Speaker 915 may generate sound effects for increasedinteractivity, or can transmit commands issued from interface 902 to acomputer system having a microphone or other elements for receiving thetransmissions.

FIG. 11 shows an exemplary application for controller 900 of FIGS. 9 and10. In this application, a driving simulation interprets rotation ofcontroller 900 as a rotation of a steering wheel of a virtualautomobile. As a user (not shown) rotates controller 900 as shown byarrows 1105, a virtual steering wheel 900′ is rotated on display 110 asshown by arrow 1105′. In one embodiment, the gearing amount whichdictates the amount of rotation of steering wheel 900′ for each degreeof rotation of controller 900 is user selectable as described above withreference to FIG. 8. In another embodiment, the gearing amount issoftware controlled as represented in example graph 1200 shown in FIG.12. In this example, the gearing amount is varied in relation to thedistance from center, i.e., a vertical orientation, of controller 900.This could allow for a full 540° rotation of virtual steering wheel 900′with only a 90° rotation of controller 900. By maintaining a low gearingamount at positions near 0° (center), a high degree of control can bemaintained for high speed driving, which generally does not requiresignificant steering rotation. As the controller 900 is rotated fartherfrom the center position, the gearing amount is increased as shown ingraph 1200 to accommodate sharper turns as generally required at slowerspeeds.

FIG. 13 shows another exemplary controller 1300 having a steering wheel1305 which may be manipulated by a user. In this case, rotations ofsteering wheel 1305 and actuation of buttons of interface 1302 areinterpreted by controller 1300, which generates data transmissions viaLEDs 1310.

FIG. 14 shows an exemplary application of controller 1300. In thisexample, the application is a driving simulation that receives commandsissued in response to rotation of steering wheel 1305 and translatesthese commands as corresponding rotations of a virtual steering wheel1305 in display 110. A gearing amount, which scales the rotation ofsteering wheel 1305 to a corresponding rotation of virtual steeringwheel 1305′ can be changed in response to user interaction withinterface 1302 (FIG. 13) or in response to the software control. FIG. 15shows an exemplary graph 1500 depicting exemplary changes in gearingamount over time. In one example, the changes in gearing can bydynamically set by the user during game play. Additionally, as shown bygraph 1500, the transitions in gearing can be smooth, sharp, in steps,for longer time, shorter time, or combinations thereof. Thus, thegearing can be set or changed by the game over time during a gamingsession, so as to provide a more realistic interactive experience.Additionally giving the user control of the gearing enables anotherdimension of control beyond predefined controls found in traditionalgames.

FIG. 16 shows another exemplary application of an image processingsystem responding to user interaction. In this example, a user 1602interacts with a baseball simulation by swinging a toy baseball bat 1605which may be recognized by the image processing system as an inputobject. As the toy baseball bat is swung the user and/or the softwarecan control the gearing amount to manipulate the speed or distance ofvirtual baseball bat 1605′. In one embodiment, the bat may include anumber of buttons that can be pressed during game play, and by pressingthe buttons, the gearing can be made to change. In another embodiment,the user can preset or program in a combination of gearing levels thatwill be applied when the bat is swung.

FIG. 17 shows graph 1700 depicting an exemplary gearing amount atdifferent times t1-t5 along the length of the swing. These gearingamounts may have been set by the user before swinging the bat or mayhave been set by the game dynamically in response to the position of thebat as viewed by the camera 105. Again, it is shown how the gearing canbe changed over time, kept constant over particular intervals, orgradually increased. In graph 1700, the gearing may have been set higherbetween times t2-t3, so that the swing of the bat will be more powerfulwhen contact is made with the ball, and then the gearing is relaxedduring time t3-t4 when the bat has already made contact. The differenttimes, in one embodiment, can be estimated by the user, or determined bythe computer.

In one example, the user can take a few practice swings, and then thecomputer can map out a number of example time slots corresponding to theuser's actual swing ability. Then, the user can custom assign specificgearing to each time interval, depending on how the user wants to impacthis game interactivity. Once the gearing is set, the user's movement ofthe bat 1605 can then be mapped to the movement of the bat 1605′ (e.g.,game object). Again, it should be noted that the gearing can be presetby the game during different action, set during game play by the user,and may be adjusted in real time during game play.

FIG. 18 shows another exemplary application of an image processingsystem responding to user interaction. In this example, a user (notshown) interacts with a football simulation by making a throwing motionwith a toy football, and pressing an actuator to indicate release of thefootball. Of course, instead of the toy football, a controller may alsobe used. A virtual player 1802 manipulates a virtual football 1805 inresponse to user interaction. In one embodiment, the actuator causes anLED to illuminate or change color which is recognized by the imageprocessing system as a command which is sent to the football simulationapplication. After releasing the ball, the user is able to controlcertain action on the field, such as the motion of a selected receiver.In one embodiment, the release of the ball triggers the application tosend gearing data to the mapper (FIG. 7) to change the gearing amount,e.g., to allow for discriminating finer movements of the input object.

FIG. 19 shows an exemplary graph 1900 illustrating the change in gearingamount upon “releasing” the football. Although shown as a simple graph1900, it should be understood that the gearing can take on any profile,depending on the game object.

FIG. 20 shows a flowchart 2000 describing an exemplary procedure forreceiving user input for the computer program. The procedure begins asindicated by start block 2002 and proceeds to operation 2004 wherein aposition of a control input is identified. The control input may be theposition of an input object in a three dimensional space as describedabove with reference to FIG. 7, or the position of a user interfacedevice as described above with reference to FIG. 14. The position may beexpressed as a representative value, or a plurality of values, such as avector. After identifying the position of the control input, theprocedure flows to operation 2006.

In operation 2006, a determination is made as to whether the positionhas changed. If the position has not changed, then the procedure returnsto operation 2004. In one embodiment, operation 2004 is delayed until anew frame of image data is received from the image capture device. If,at operation 2006, it is determined that the position has changed, thenthe procedure flows to operation 2008.

In operation 2008, a vector of movement is calculated. The movementvector can be any number of dimensions. For example, if the movement isof an input object in three-dimensional space, the movement vector maydescribe the movement as a three dimensional vector. However, if themovement is of a one dimensional control input, such as a steeringwheel, then the movement vector is a one dimensional vector thatdescribes the amount of rotation of the steering wheel. Afterdetermining the movement vector the procedure flows to operation 2010.

In operation 2010, the movement vector is multiplied by a currentgearing amount to determine an input vector. The current gearing amountmay be a scalar quantity or a multidimensional value. If it is a scalarquantity, then all dimensions of the movement vector are multiplied bythe same amount. If the gearing amount is multidimensional, then eachdimension of the movement vector is multiplied by a correspondingdimension of the gearing amount. The gearing amount may vary in responseto user input and may be under software control. Therefore, the currentgearing amount may change from moment to moment. After multiplying themovement vector by the current gearing amount, the procedure flows tooperation 2012.

In operation 2012, a new position of a virtual object is calculatedusing the input vector calculated in operation 2010. The new positionmay be a camera position, or an object position such as a virtualsteering wheel. The virtual object may not be displayed on a displayscreen. Once the new position of the virtual object is calculated, theprocedure flows to operation 2014 wherein data representing the newposition is passed to the application program. The procedure then endsas indicated by finish block 2016. It should be noted, however, thatthis flow is only exemplary in nature, and other alternatives may bepossible.

In one embodiment, the operations will include the detection of an inputdevice and the movement of the input device. The movement of the inputdevice is determined by a camera that is viewing the input device. Byuser control or preset or pre-programmed settings, a gearing value isapplied. If set by the user, the gearing value can be selected, forexample, by allowing the user to hit a button on the input device (e.g.,a controller). Depending on the gearing amount, movement control ismapped to an object of a computer game. If the user is using the inputdevice to control an action figure on of a game, then the gearing thatis set or controlled to be set will affect how the movement by the inputdevice is mapped to the movement by the action figure of the computergame. Therefore, the gearing and the changes in gearing allow for thedynamic application of a mapped response by the object that may be partof a computer game.

In various embodiments, the image processing functions described abovefor determining the intensity value, controller player number,orientation and/or position of one or more input objects includingcontrollers is carried out in a process executing on a computer system.The computing system is also executing a main process, referred toherein as an application program, which may be a gaming application,that requests or is otherwise receptive to the data generated from theimage or audio processing, such data comprising controller playernumber, orientation and/or position of one or more input objectsincluding controllers, controller actuation, etc. In variousembodiments, the process performing the image and/or audio processingfunctions is a driver for a video camera or video/audio monitoringdevice, the driver providing the data to the main process via any typeof inter-process communication which may be implementation specific asgenerally known and understood in the art. The process performing imageor audio processing executes on the same processor or a differentprocessor as the one executing the main process which is the gamingsoftware or other application program. It is also possible to have acommon process for both image or audio processing and game functionalityin the same process, e.g., using a procedure call. Therefore, while itmay be stated herein that the input vector or other information isprovided “to the program” it should be recognized that the inventionencompasses providing such data to one routine of a process using aprocedure call or other software function such that a single process canboth perform image processing functionality as well as gamingfunctionality, as well as separating the functions into differentprocesses whereby one or more processes, which may execute on a commonprocessor core or multiple processor cores, perform image and/or audioprocessing as described herein and a separate process performs gamingfunctions.

The present invention may be used as presented herein or in combinationwith other user input mechansims and notwithstanding mechanisms thattrack the angular direction of the sound and/or mechansims that trackthe position of the object actively or passively, mechanisms usingmachine vision, combinations thereof and where the object tracked mayinclude ancillary controls or buttons that manipulate feedback to thesystem and where such feedback may include but is not limited lightemission from light sources, sound distortion means, or other suitabletransmitters and modulators as well as buttons, pressure pad, etc. thatmay influence the transmission or modulation of the same, encode state,and/or transmit commands from or to the device being tracked.

The invention may be practiced with other computer system configurationsincluding game consoles, gaming computers or computing devices,hand-held devices, microprocessor systems, microprocessor-based orprogrammable consumer electronics, minicomputers, mainframe computersand the like. The invention may also be practiced in distributingcomputing environments where tasks are performed by remote processingdevices that are linked through a network. For instance, on-line gamingsystems and software may also be used.

With the above embodiments in mind, it should be understood that theinvention may employ various computer-implemented operations involvingdata stored in computer systems. These operations are those requiringphysical manipulation of physical quantities. Usually, though notnecessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical or magneticsignals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, andotherwise manipulated. Further, the manipulations performed are oftenreferred to in terms, such as producing, identifying, determining, orcomparing.

Any of the operations described herein that form part of the inventionare useful machine operations. The invention also relates to a device oran apparatus for performing these operations. The apparatus may bespecially constructed for the required purposes, such as the carriernetwork discussed above, or it may be a general purpose computerselectively activated or configured by a computer program stored in thecomputer. In particular, various general purpose machines may be usedwith computer programs written in accordance with the teachings herein,or it may be more convenient to construct a more specialized apparatusto perform the required operations.

The invention can also be embodied as computer readable code on acomputer readable medium. The computer readable medium is any datastorage device that can store data, which can thereafter be read by acomputer system. Examples of the computer readable medium include harddrives, network attached storage (NAS), read-only memory, random-accessmemory, FLASH based memory, CD-ROMs, CD-Rs, CD-RWs, DVDs, magnetictapes, and other optical and non-optical data storage devices. Thecomputer readable medium can also be distributed over a network coupledcomputer systems so that the computer readable code is stored andexecuted in a distributed fashion.

Still further, although gearing has been discussed in relation to videogames, it should be understood that the gearing can be applied to anycomputer controlled environment. In one example, the gearing can beassociated with a computer input device that allows for the interaction,selection, or input of information. Applying different gearing duringdifferent input or interactive operations can enable further degrees ofoperation not normally found in environments that have pre-configuredcontrol settings. Accordingly, the embodiments of gearing, as definedherein, should be given a broad encompassing application.

Once the gearing is determined, the gearing can be applied to a gesture,that may be communicated to a computer program. As noted above, trackingof a gesture or input device can be accomplished via image analysis,inertial analysis, or audible analysis. Examples of gestures include,but are not limited to throwing an object such as a ball, swinging anobject such as a bat or golf club, pumping a hand pump, opening orclosing a door or window, turning steering wheel or other vehiclecontrol, martial arts moves such as punches, sanding movements, wax-onwax-off, paint the house, shakes, rattles, rolls, football pitches,baseball pitches, turning knob movements, 3D/2D MOUSE movements,scrolling movements, movements with known profiles, any recordablemovement, movements along any vector back and forth i.e. pump the tirebut at some arbitrary orientation in space, movements along a path,movements having precise stop and start times, any time based usermanipulation that can be recorded, tracked and repeated within the noisefloor, splines, and the like. Each of these gestures may be pre-recordedfrom path data and stored as a time-based model. The gearing, therefore,can be applied on any one of these gestures, depending the degree ofgearing set by the user or program.

Although the foregoing invention has been described in some detail forpurposes of clarity of understanding, it will be apparent that certainchanges and modifications may be practiced within the scope of theappended claims. Accordingly, the present embodiments are to beconsidered as illustrative and not restrictive, and the invention is notto be limited to the details given herein, but may be modified withinthe scope and equivalents of the appended claims.

1. A method for interactive interfacing with a computer gaming system,comprising: providing an input device, the input device conveyingmutlti-channel mixed input data that is to be interpreted by thecomputer gaming system; identifying an action to be performed by thecomputer gaming system, the action being mapped to the mutlti-channelmixed input data provided by the input device; and applying a gearingbetween the action to be performed by the computer gaming system and themutlti-channel mixed input data received from the input device; whereinthe gearing scales an adjustment to impact the action to be performed bythe computer gaming system.
 2. A method for interactive interfacing witha computer gaming system as recited in claim 1, wherein the actionincludes one of, (a) setting for an amount of movement by an object of acomputer game as executed by the computer gaming system, (b) setting avariable for executing a process, (a) setting a rate of change to aprocess that then affects a sound or vibration, or (c) setting a rate ofchange in movement of a graphical object.
 3. A method for interactiveinterfacing with a computer gaming system as recited in claim 1, furthercomprising, at least periodically analyzing the mutlti-channel mixedinput data; at least periodically re-applying the action with changes asupdated by the gearing.
 4. A method for interactive interfacing with acomputer gaming system as recited in claim 3, further comprising, if itis determined that the gearing has been updated, the updated gearing isapplied while resuming processing of the action, before a next action orgradually over time.
 5. A method for interactive interfacing with acomputer gaming system as recited in claim 3, wherein when the gearinghas been adjusted, the the adjusted gearing is applied (a) in steps, (b)gradually or (c) smoothly, so as to impact the action.
 6. A method forinteractive interfacing with a computer gaming system as recited inclaim 1, wherein the mutlti-channel mixed input data is analyzed toidentify coordinate information of the input device and the coordinateinformation is converted by the mapping into vector data that is appliedto the action.
 7. A method for interactive interfacing with a computergaming system as recited in claim 6, wherein the vector data is scaledin response to adjustments in the gearing.
 8. A method for interactiveinterfacing with a computer gaming system as recited in claim 6, whereinthe vector data is scaled by multiplying the vector data with a gearingamount defined by the gearing.
 9. A method for interactive interfacingwith a computer gaming system as recited in claim 6, wherein the inputdevice includes a plurality of lights that are to be used to detect apositioning of the input device and communication data.
 10. A system forenabling dynamic user interactivity between user actions and actions tobe performed by a computer program, comprising: a computing system, anmutlti-channel mixed input detection analyzer being coupled to orexecuted by the computing system; an input device for interfacing withthe computer program that is to be executed by the computing system, theinput device having a gearing control for establishing a scaling betweenmutlti-channel mixed input data produced at the input device and actionsto be applied by the computer program as analyzed by the mutlti-channelmixed input detection analyzer.
 11. A system for enabling dynamic userinteractivity between user actions and actions to be performed by acomputer program as recited in claim 10, wherein the gearing is capableof being set before, during or after interactivity with the object ofthe computer program.
 12. A system for enabling dynamic userinteractivity between user actions and actions to be performed by acomputer program as recited in claim 10, wherein the computer program isan interactive application.
 13. A system for enabling dynamic userinteractivity between user actions and actions to be performed by acomputer program as recited in claim 12, wherein the interactiveapplication is a video game.
 14. A system for enabling dynamic userinteractivity between user actions and actions to be performed by acomputer program as recited in claim 12, wherein the input device is acontroller or a hand-held object.
 15. A system for enabling dynamic userinteractivity between user actions and actions to be performed by acomputer program as recited in claim 14, wherein the controller orhand-held object includes light emitting diodes for detecting position.16. A system for enabling dynamic user interactivity between useractions and actions to be performed by a computer program as recited inclaim 14, wherein the controller or hand-held object includes a speakerfor communicating sound or ultrasonic signals to cause the computingsystem to trigger the action.
 17. A system for enabling dynamic userinteractivity between user actions and actions to be performed by acomputer program as recited in claim 14, wherein the controller orhand-held object includes a microphone for receiving input from a userfor communicating with the computing system to trigger an action by thecomputer program.
 18. An apparatus for enabling dynamic userinteractivity between user actions and actions to be performed by acomputer program, the apparatus comprising: an input device forinterfacing with the computer program that is to be executed by acomputing system, the input device having a gearing control forestablishing a scaling between mutlti-channel mixed input data of theinput device as mapped to an action to be applied by the computingsystem.
 19. A apparatus for enabling dynamic user interactivity betweenuser actions and actions to be performed by an object of a computerprogram as recited in claim 18, wherein the gearing is capable of beingset before, during or after interactivity with the computer program. 20.A apparatus for enabling dynamic user interactivity between user actionsand actions to be performed by an object of a computer program asrecited in claim 18, wherein the input device is a controller orhand-held object that includes light emitting diodes for detectingposition.
 21. A apparatus for enabling dynamic user interactivitybetween user actions and actions to be performed by an object of acomputer program as recited in claim 20, wherein the controller orhand-held object includes a speaker for communicating sound orultrasonic signals to cause the computing system to trigger an action.22. A apparatus for enabling dynamic user interactivity between useractions and actions to be performed by an object of a computer programas recited in claim 20, wherein the controller or hand-held objectincludes a microphone for receiving input from a user for communicatingwith the computing system to trigger an action by the computer program.